


Tugging Heartstrings

by chikka_san



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, F/M, everyonexYachi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23324710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chikka_san/pseuds/chikka_san
Summary: With bright smiles, dainty hands, and a kind heart, Yachi Hitoka might have just touched every heart in the land.(Short drabbles featuring the cutest babie and some tol bois/girls. Inspired by Final Haikyuu Quest!)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Yachi Hitoka, Bokuto Koutarou/Yachi Hitoka, Hinata Shouyou/Yachi Hitoka, Iwaizumi Hajime/Yachi Hitoka, Kageyama Tobio/Yachi Hitoka, Kozume Kenma & Yachi Hitoka, Kuroo Tetsurou/Yachi Hitoka, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yachi Hitoka, Oikawa Tooru/Yachi Hitoka, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tsukishima Kei/Yachi Hitoka, Yachi Hitoka/Everyone
Comments: 12
Kudos: 143





	1. Fondest Memory (TsukiYachi)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I recently fell into Haikyuu hell again since I reread the manga recently, and once again my unwavering love for everyone resurfaced >_>  
> I really love Yachi, and I just think she is so shippable with everyone else! Please be aware that this contains mostly F/M scenarios, and if you are not comfortable with it I suggest not reading this fic! 
> 
> Again, I am not a professional writer by all means, please excuse any grammatical errors and inconsistencies!

At the young age of nine, Tsukishima Kei was already sure of what he wanted to do when he grows up. 

Born in the small village of Karasuno, he lived a fairly normal life with his fairly normal family. His father opened up a small bookstore, the only one in their place, and would often travel to faraway cities and countries to trade books and bring them home to their village. Kei and his brother, Akiteru, would watch the store most of the days. They would arrange books, dust shelves, and talk to customers, though most of them would only browse through the books. It was mostly boring, but Kei liked routines. He liked hearing his mother’s voice in the morning urging him to get out of bed, he liked feeding the chickens at noon and he liked playing with Tadashi just before dinner time comes.   
He never got bored of his mundane life, he felt safe with it.

***

But then, something threw him off the loop. One summer day, while little Kei was browsing through an atlas of the far Eastern countries, he noticed a much smaller child who was staring at him from the store’s front. She was definitely a lot smaller than him and Tadashi, bright mop of blonde hair, and a pair of honey eyes sparkled under the high noon.

He gulped hard, this was something new. This is not part of his recurring days, he thought.  
  
Akiteru jumped out to his (and the little girl’s) surprise; without wasting a second, the older Tsukishima waived his hands to the girl—which of course earned an earful from Kei saying “ _that’s embarrassing, we don’t even know her_ ”. He laughed at his brother and came forward to meet the little stranger (but Kei actually tailed him, out of curiosity nonetheless).  
  
 _Yachi Hitoka_.  
  
That was her name, she sheepishly introduced herself in the softest, daintiest voice Kei has ever heard. His brother enthusiastically shook her tiny hand and declared that she was now a friend of the Tsukishimas. Hitoka, who was visibly frightened by Akiteru’s overly welcoming nature, became a lot calmer as he continued the friendly chat.  
“Ah, by the way, this is my brother, Kei!” Kei’s eyes immediately shot a sharp look at his Nii-chan.  
“He’s the same age as you and he loves reading books and eating strawberries!” The little boy’s ears went red at his brother’s commentary and pulled his shirt mumbling _nii-chan!_ ; he glanced quickly to Hitoka and saw her face lit up; honey brown eyes and slightly pink cheeks.  
  
“I love strawberries too!” She smiled brightly. His grip on his brother’s shirt tightened.   
  
Akiteru would always invite little Hitoka to come over and play, much to Kei’s dismay. He doesn’t want a new friend, he’s already contented with Nii-san, Tadashi, and some of the kids living down the block; _it’s honestly a pain_ , he thought to himself.   
Yachi Hitoka was a bashful mess, Kei remarked. She would stutter when talking, especially to him, and her cheeks would always turn pink; and for some reason it makes his little chest flutter.   
  
For real, it’s a pain. 

***

  
“Kei-chan, do you hate me?” She asked one afternoon, when it was only the two of them under the big apple tree. Her question was thrown directly, unwavering, and curiously—hoping for a good answer from him.  
“I-I don’t.” He answered abruptly.   
“You and Aki-nii don’t have to play with me just because we’re n-neighbors.” She hugged her knees close to her chest.   
He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t want to answer. If it was just him, he would definitely just leave her alone and go back to his normal, daily life. But, that can’t be done now, can it? Tadashi, Akiteru and even their mother have already accepted her into their lives, he doesn’t want to act like a brat just because he’s threatened by the little girl.  
He breathed in deeply and looked at Hitoka, “I’ll try.” He whispered softly.

  
As the days passed on, Hitoka slowly became embedded on Kei’s daily life. Her nervousness eased down, and his stubbornness mellowed. Sometimes, Hitoka would accompany Kei watching the store, they would read in silence during the noon and wait until it’s cool enough to play outside. Other days, Kei and Tadashi would come over at her house and they would watch her mother paint beautiful portraits and landscapes. Hitoka would always whisper, “I wanna be an artist like my mom when I grow up.” Kei would nod in approval and think how great she’ll be in the future. He quickly learned of her quirky traits and habits as she learned his. Kei’s life was finally back on track, Hitoka may be new, but she found her place in his little world and fitted in perfectly. She earned the title of “best friend #2” (as Tadashi was #1 and Akiteru was “#0”) quicker than he has imagined, and it made Kei felt butterflies in his stomach.

***

  
“Look Kei, I drew this for you!” Hitoka proudly showed a colorful piece of art, her arms and cheeks smeared with various colors, and her grin wide.  
“Hitoka, you got yourself messy, Madoka-san would get mad.” The young boy sighed.  
She giggled at his words of concern. “No worries, I’ll clean myself up before mother comes home. Here, take it!” She gently pushed the drawing to his hands, “It’s dry, you can touch it.”   
Kei received it with gratefulness, the colors were definitely non-complementing and too bright if a professional painter like Hitoka’s mother would judge it; but luckily, he’s just a small boy who received his first gift from a friend.  
“Are these the fields uphill?” He asked in awe. She nodded in delight. “Yeah! Look, there’s you catching dragonflies!” She pointed to the poorly drawn figure on the far right of the landscape.  
“It’s beautiful, thank you, Hitoka!” His ears pink and bright.   
“I told you, I wanna be like my mother when I grow up, that’s why I’m always practicing!”   
Kei nodded, “You’ll be even greater!” He assured her.  
“Yeah! How about you, Kei? What do you want to do when you grow up!”   
Kei looked at her and his hand tightened a bit, making the edge of the paper a bit wrinkled.   
“Well, I...” Hitoka waited for his answer. He breathed deeply and his face flushed.  
  
“I want to marry you when I grow up, Hitoka!” 

***

“Hitoka, I’m done already, let’s head downstairs.” He yawned lazily and stretched his back. His eyes searched the room and found dear Hitoka fixated on one corner of the room. “Hey, let’s go, I have to open up the shop soon.” He added his frustrations.  
“Kei, look!” She turned to him with a wide, toothy smile. “It’s the drawing I gave you years ago!”

She proudly presented the wrinkled paper, it’s edges turned yellow and the colors desaturated over the years.  
“Y-Yeah, _didn’t_ know that is stored up here.” He lied through his teeth. He kept that drawing hidden and safe, away from anything that could harm it.  
Hitoka laughed lightly, “I still remembered what you said that day.”   
His heart thumped. “Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Another lie. He took the drawing off her hands and stared at it for minute.  
  
Of course he knew what he said that day. He never forgot it. The image was still burned at the back of his head; her messy hair, paint smeared all over her face, and her small voice that replied, “Of course!” to his future plan.  
  
It was all easy to remember and impossible to forget.  
  
“Eh, that’s a shame, you were all excited back then.” She pouted at his disappointing answer.  
“Who cares, that was years ago anyway.” Another lie, of course he cared. If he could just not lie as naturally as he breathed, maybe the conversation would have been easier. “Forget it. Come on, we’ve got work to do.” He delivered the final blow— _to himself_.  
“Yeah, I’m sure Aki-nii is already looking for us.” She smiled brightly without falter as she ran ahead of him, leaving him with a pounding chest and butterflies in his stomach.

  
At the young age of sixteen, Tsukishima Kei _still_ knew what he wanted to do when he grows up.


	2. Villager A and Villager B (YamaYachi)

Tadashi was a shy and frail boy; unlike his peers who have already started to help out with the demanding labor for each of their families, he remained at home because he wasn’t ready yet— his father said. One time he tried to fetch a bucket of water from the village well; his thin arms gave up along the way and the weight was too much for him to handle, and he fell in and hurt his head and ankle. His mother cried all night, saying it was her fault. 

His life partly changed when he became friends with the Tsukishima brothers, though both are humongous and intimidating ( _especially_ the younger one!); they are actually nice, unlike the mean children who would call him freckle-face.

“You should try to be more like those boys, already helping out their family’s store in such young ages.” His father blurted out while chugging on his beer, “You can’t even take off the damn saddle from the horse.”   
His words were slurred and dull but he still felt the pain from his sharp tongue. He politely excused himself from the table and went directly to bed.

***

“T-Tsukki!” His whisper was breathy and nervous, “Who is she, a relative?” His eyes fixated on the the new face inside the Tsukishima’s bookstore.  
“This is Hitoka-chan, a new friend!” Akiteru casually joined the conversation. “Hitoka-chan, this is Tadashi, a friend of ours.” He grinned widely.  
“N-Nice to meet you!” Her voice shrieked as she bowed her head. He felt his heart pound hard. _She’s really cute!_ Tadashi noted to himself. He wondered how the brothers met this little angel, she’s too sweet to be hanging out with some boys.  
He had been so happy the day he met Hitoka, a new friend to play with! Though, he was a bit nervous around the girl , well because she is a girl.  
Nevertheless, he quickly became good friends with her; his quiet afternoons got a bit noisier! 

Hitoka was chatty, especially around Akiteru, she’d laugh at his jokes and her ears would turn red when she can’t stop her soft giggles and it made Tadashi bit his lip from smiling too widely. She was also very kind, she would always ask him if he already ate lunch.  
One time he skipped a meal since his father came home early, he held his stomach while on the way to the Tsukishimas, them came Hitoka who handed him an apple.  
  
“I _just knew_ you would be hungry today, Yamaguchi-kun.”   
He wanted to cry at that moment.

***

He was on his way to the their playing fields when he noticed Hitoka sitting by the stream, looking a little lost.  
He called out to her, once, twice before she actually heard his voice. She was quiet for a whole minute and was trying to distract herself by throwing little pebbles into the stream,  
“I got scolded today.” Her voice was shaky and tired.   
Tadashi looked at her face; eyes puffy and nose red like a tomato. He didn’t say anything and he waited for her to continue talking. “I spilled paint over one of mother’s paintings.” She shut her eyes as she picked another pebble, her fingertips were dusted with the earth. “She called me unreliable.”  
He felt his heart ache together with hers.

He didn’t know how to comfort Hitoka. It was a rare sight to see a person crying that wasn’t _him_ ; should I pat her head? Rub her back?   
His eyes followed the silent flow of the stream, nobody really comforted him when he was feeling sad, nobody would even know he was crying at all. But he had the urge to at least make Hitoka break out a smile, even a small one.

“My father...” He finally let out, “Would always call me useless...” He looked at the girl whose eyes went wide when she heard the word useless.   
“Yamaguchi-kun...”  
  
“My father’s known for being a strong and hardworking blacksmith. I can’t even help out since I’m weak.” He rubbed the back of his head letting out a forced laugh.   
“It’s hard, being someone who can’t do something cool, look at Tsukki and Akiteru-nii, if you ask anyone if they know a Tsukishima Kei, they would answer _‘Ah, that’s the son of the bookstore owner.’_ or something like that.” Tadashi continued, sneaking quick glances to the girl.  
  
Hitoka sighed deeply, “I know what you mean.”   
“A-Ah, I wasn’t trying to make you feel worse Yachi-san, I was j-just—“  
She beamed out a big smile, “I feel a bit better!” Letting out a small laugh.  
Tadashi gulped hard, “A-Ah, I’m glad Yachi-san.”   
  
Hitoka stood up and straightened her dress, “We’re both not cool and I think that’s okay!” _Both?_ Tadashi, on the contrary, thought Hitoka was cool on her own ways. She was responsible and matured, she can handle household chores, she can draw well, she can even make Tsukki laugh once in a while!  
“I-I think, everyone in this place got a special role to do, but, we may be a little out of place, like just villagers, ordinary folks. We can call ourselves like villagers—“  
“A or something?”   
Hitoka’s eyes shone bright, and her cheeks went pink, “Yeah!!! If Tsukishima-kun is the bookstore owner-san’s son, you could be Villager A and I would be Villager B!” Her short arms crossed in front of her arms.  
  
Tadashi covered his mouth, trying to suppress a laugh, Yachi Hitoka is really different from the other kids, even from the Tsukishima brothers.  
She’s someone who can understand him and his worries, and though he didn’t actually get how he managed to lift up her spirits, he felt as if a thorn was pulled out from his throat. Voicing out his hidden frustrations to someone like her felt really great.

“Hey, we’ve been looking for you two. What are doing there, Tadashi, Hitoka-chan?” Akiteru waved walking towards the pair, Kei, behind him.  
“Akiteru-nii, T-Tsukki!”  
“Hey, we’re _not_ Tadashi and Hitoka! We’re Villagers A and B!” Hitoka protested with a pout. Tadashi laughed lightly, her cheeks and nose were still reddish. _So cute._  
“H-Huh? What are you talking about?” Kei’s face twisted in confusion.  
“Hitoka-chan, can I be Villager C?” Akiteru grinned at the young girl.  
“No!”   
“Ehhh, unfair, I want a cool nickname too! Right? Kei?”   
“I-I don’t want one.” 

Tadashi smiled to himself. He may not be the smartest, coolest, or most handsome boy in Karasuno, but he is Villager A.   
For now, that’s enough.


	3. Little Flower (OiYachi)

He felt chills run along his spine, _Could it be?_ He closed his eyes and hummed lightly, _Ah after a hundred years.  
_  
“Oi, what’s wrong?” His companion asked harshly.  
“Ah, Iwa-chan, nothing at all, I just smelled a _delicious_ offering from _them_ ~” He sang gleefully.   
“F-For real? But no one has used that for ove—“  
“A hundred years, yes.” He cut short. “What could _they_ want this time, huh?” A wicked smile crept through his lips.  
“I’m coming with you.”   
  
He laughed lightly at _Iwa-chan’s_ demand, “You’re not going anywhere.”  
With a quick snap of a finger, he was nowhere to be found.   
  
“That asshole just left me alone!”

***

It was definitely summer already, the sun was at its highest point, the air was humid, and the earth was hot.  
Hitoka Yachi gathered her short hair into a low ponytail and lifted her dress up to her knees, _“I should have listened to Tsukishima-kun.”_ she said to herself.  
She quickly unlaced her leather boots, a sigh of relief escaped her small mouth as she stretched her feet and toes.  
If only there was a nearby spring for a quick and cold drink, that would make this hot weather bearable, she thought. She closed her eyes and let the light breeze cool her, good thing she found a nice, big boulder to rest on.  
  
“Well, well, what do we have here?” A voice whispered lowly.  
  
Yachi quickly stood up and looked around, “W-Who’s there?” She could hear her heart pound, there was no one around, and she was sure that the next village was around far away from the forest.  
  
“Ah~ it is _true!_ A sweet little human!” A tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her, his arms stretched widely, he wore a white suit which was probably made of expensive clothing, his fingers were adorned with various rings of different sizes and stones, and a long velvet cape rested on his shoulders.  
He looked like a king, but his smile stated that he was not a good one.  
  
Yachi shrieked at the sudden appearance of the stranger, there was no way she would miss an extravagant person like that before resting! She immediately planted her bare foot down to run as far and as quickly as she could not thinking of the goods she brought with her, she needed to save her life! But before her other foot launched her off, her arm was violently grabbed by the _king,_ a mischievous smile grew on his pretty face.  
  
“Where do you think you’re going, _little flower?_ ” His eyes were sharp and dark, he pulled her up and until she was hanging by her arm, her face warped into a painful expression as she felt her own little weight, she can see her captor face-to-face.  
  
“I haven’t eaten in a hundred years, and _this_ is what they give me?” He smirked and licked his lips hungrily.  
  
“W-What?!” Hitoka’s voice was breaking, she just heard the words _“hundred years”_ and _“eaten”_ , and she instantly knew, she was going to die that day.   
  
“P-Please don’t eat me! I p-p-promise I don’t taste very good...”  
  
His brows met in confusion, “I don’t e-eat a lot of vegetables and I probably don’t h-have enough fat in my b-bod—“ Before she can spit out more words, he let go of her arm and she fell down to where she was sitting earlier, she winced in pain and held her right shoulder tightly, her eyes filled with tears.  
  
“This must be some kind of joke.” He laughed lightly as he massaged the bridge of his nose. He looked down at her and examined the human thoroughly.  
“Little flower, who are you and what were you doing _there?_ ”   
“I-I’m Yachi Hitoka...” She sniffed through her crystal clear tears, “I was just r-resting because I was lost” More tears fell , she held up her curled fists and rubbed her eyes hardly. 

***

He groaned in frustration and began kicking the grass at his feet, _stupid, stupid, stupid_ , he kept on mumbling.  
“If only I brought along Iwa-chan!!! I even made an effort to look _so cool!_ ” He repeated as he kept on kicking the earth beneath him.

Hitoka bit her lip and studied the stranger, thinking if the person was having a tantrum or some sorts. She was familiar with such behavior, Tsukishima-kun would sometimes act like a child over the most trivial things.  
  
“A-Are you okay?” She managed to squeak out, unsure if the idea of starting a conversation with a person who actually hurt her and threatened to eat her was good.  
  
The stranger quickly looked back with a glowering face that made her jump back, “Y-You, do you have any idea of what you just did?”   
“I-I”  
“Do you even know what you are sitting on?!”  
“I really d-don—“  
The stranger sighed in defeat, he placed one hand on his hip and the other on his fluffy brown hair.  
  
“Little flower,” he called Yachi, “what you’re sitting on is an ancient altar for sacrificing to the demon king.” He smiled.  
  
Her eyes widened in horror, she literally jumped away and stared at where she sat, and it really was an old altar built from stone. One wouldn’t notice since the foliage and mold covered half of the material.  
  
_Sacrifice? Demon King?_  
  
She slowly turned her head to the stranger and all the dots connected in her head.  
  
_Hundred years. Eating.  
_  
His beautiful eyes began to lose its amber hue and were replaced with bloody crimson red, and a pair of ivory horns protruded from his head, his previously spotless white outfit which seemed like something a prince out of a fairy tale would wear became black.   
  
_Ah, it’s the Demon King._

She felt her breathing stop, who would have known that today was her day? She was just going to pick out some herbs for mixing some medicine for Yamaguchi’s stomach ache.  
If maybe she let Tsukishima-kun accompany her, she wouldn’t have gotten lost. Her stubbornness actually got the best of her, and actually became the reason of her impending death.   
She felt hot tears welling up on her eyes, it was time to accept her fate, there was no way she would be able to escape something like _that_ now.   
  
“P-Please, let my body be enough for another h-hundred years.” She pleaded with her small hands clasped as she knelt down before the dark entity.  
She silently prayed that her mother would continue to live happily even if she won't be on her side from now on.  
The Demon King laughed loudly at her request, he sat down on his altar and crossed one long leg over the other,  
“Unfortunately, as _much_ as I want to devour you, my flower, I can’t.” He winked coyly.

***

Yachi blinked in confusion, was her life just spared? Was her existence that useless that even a demon won't take it as sacrifice??,  
“E-Excuse me, Demon King-san...”  
“Oikawa.” He rolled his eyes at her politeness.  
“O-Oikawa-san, what do you mean y-you can’t.” She lifted herself up, dusting her knees.  
  
He sighed deeply and grabbed her leather boots then tossed gently to the girl, “Hitoka-chan, you are not a sacrifice, by any means. Though, you fit the criteria,”  
_Female, maiden, and pure-hearted_ , he smirked to himself,  
“It was all an honest, and _irritating_ mistake. You simply sat down here, no ritual and all. The fact that it’s been so long since it sensed a human life must be the reason why I felt your presence.”   
  
“O-Oh.” She dusted her feet as she slid them inside her boots. “S-So you _won’t_ eat me then?” She asked Oikawa as she trembled to the idea of being eaten alive. _Must be so painful!_   
He gave her a menacing smile, “Would you _want_ something like that, little flower?”   
Yachi’s face heated up and her whole face flushed in red, “N-No, thank you!”   
Oikawa laughed, “As I thought, you really are the cutest sacrifice I’ve met. Oops, correction, _almost-sacrifice_.” 

“Ahh~ I was _really_ forward to my meal, it’s been a century since I’ve tasted something so, so good.” Oikawa cried out, dramatically.  
Yachi, then grabbed her basket sitting beside the shrine and began going through her things, after a few seconds she brought out something that was wrapped in linen.  
  
“H-Here!” She stood in from of him and stretched out her arms as if presenting a golden treasure to a king. He raised an eyebrow in response.  
She quickly unwrapped it, “M-Milk buns!”   
Oikawa looked at her for a minute until he broke out into a laugh, “You _really_ are surprising.”  
He shook his head lightly, “My hunger can’t be sufficed by human food.”   
“I-I know but, please take it as thank you for not eating me.”   
“I wasn’t going to, anyway. But fine, I accept.” He reached out for the bread with a smile.  
  
He noticed how wary the human girl was, he was going to play more games with her, but it seemed like meeting an actual demon was too much for her to process. Another reason was that he was already tired of interacting with a human, he went out of his way expecting a satisfying meal after all, and all he got was bashful little human who can't even finish a whole sentence without stuttering.  
He stood up and bowed to her level his face inches away from hers, looking directly at her big, doe eyes, “You are free to go, my little flower.”   
“Y-Yes, t-thank you very much, I’m sorry for the trouble—“ her small voice recited.  
“Run along now, before I actually change my mind.” He pointed north, to where she actually needs to be, “And make sure to avoid the mountains, there’s a witch up there who _lo~ves_ eating up pretty girls like you.” 

Yachi nodded and quickly gathered up her things and looked back one last time "O-Oikawa-san" she called out.  
"Hm?"  
"Y-You're _actually_ very nice!" She smiled softly at the Demon King.  
  
He got stunned for a solid ten seconds before opening his mouth, "That's a very _weird_ thing to say to something like me, Hitoka-chan."  
Her cheeks blushed in the softest hue of pink, "A-Ah, I'm sorry! I just meant that you're nice despite b-being a demon..."   
Oikawa chuckled, "Keep on saying things like that and I might just have to take you home."   
Yachi's face gave a nervous smile before turning back and running towards the direction where he pointed.  
  
He watched her back disappear from the thick bushes until he was all alone, he looked down his feet and noticed a strip of clothing, he picked it up and held it close to his face it, _Ah the one she used for her hair, how sweet_ , he thought. 

***

“Ah, you _actually_ found me, Iwa-chan.”   
“I had the Dog sniff you out, Shittykawa.”   
Oikawa laughed, “You dared wake up Kyouken-chan at midday?!”  
Iwaizumi gave him a solid slap at the back of his head, “So, where’s the sacrifice? And what is that you’re holding?”   
“Milk buns! They’re _disgustingly_ delicious.”   
“H-Human food? Where’s the maiden?”   
“Ah, I let her go, she sat on the shrine by mistake.” He confessed as he shoved the second bun to his mouth.  
“What?! How could that happen?!”  
Oikawa shrugged,  
  
“Don’t know. But I’m going to make _sure_ that I get to eat that beautiful flower _soon._ ”


End file.
